I purchased the Maxent 42" HD (MX-42XM11) from BestBuy two weeks ago (June 1, 2005). It was offered to me for $1900 because the ED Maxent was sold out. Additionally, I used a coupon from Papa Johns (still good until the end of June 2005) for 10% off HD TVs from BestBuy. That put the price at a little above $1700. You would be hard pressed to find an ED 42" plasma for that price. Now to comments on the TV:
1. I noticed at BestBuy that they don't push the Maxent. Actually they try to talk you out of it. Saying that they only have good, better, and best, and that the Maxent is only "good". I also noticed that the picture quality of the Maxent at the store wasn't as good as the other plasmas, but when I got it home and plugged in Time Warner's ony true 1080 HD channel (Discovery HD theater), the picture actually made my jaw drop. It was a show about glaciers and it was like being there. Other shows on that channel are equally impressive. So the picture quality was actually as good if not a little better than some of the other plasmas in the store.
2. A little more about channels. This isn't a knock on the TV, it's more about the lack of HD channels. This TV can show true 1080, 720 and 480. 95% of the channels available are still in the old format, a couple do 720 and only Discovery does 1080 (at the current time). So even though you have this really cool HD plasma, about the only channels it truly looks great on are the 720 and 1080 channels. DVD's don't even look as good as either 720 or 1080 channels.
3. The TV gets hot. I mean too hot to touch on the top of it. Due to this heat, it makes the room hotter. I had to adjust my air in attempts to compensate. I don't know if this is specific to Maxent, or just to 42" plasmas in general.
4. If your worried about the lack of brand name recognition, purchase the 4 year service plan. It cost $300. So add that to the purchase price and you are still getting an HD plasma for the price of an ED.
5. The TV, when compared to others, has a low contrast ratio (1000:1). So the picture may not be as sharp as on other units. But I upgraded from a GE 27" non-flat screen CRT. Guess it's all a matter of perspective. Granted the Maxent isn't as nice as the LG and Pioneer plasmas, but it sure beats the hell out of my ol' GE.
6. The universal remote from Time Warner doesn't have a set-up code for Maxent TVs.
7. Due to the number of inputs for the TV, you have to either cycle through them all with the input button, or select the one you want from really little buttons on a conceled bottom portion of the TV remote.
8. When changing the channel from a normal 480 channel to an HD channel, the TV has to go through some type of transition where there is no picture for anywhere from 4-16 seconds. I don't know if that is the TV or the Time Warner box.
That's about all I can think of for now. Also, if you buy it and don't like it, you have a month to take it back.